The Gift of Life
by American Wings
Summary: Thoughts of various Weasleys plus Harry on Mother's Day


***Disclaimer*** I don't own Harry Potter, JKR and Warner Bros do, and I'm not trying to make a profit, just have fun writing.  
  
A/N In church today we talked about moms (of course) and what we loved about our moms, etc etc, and this story came to my mind. I'm not a mom (far from it!) but I have a mom and she is the greatest mom ever. She's given me life, and she loves me no matter what I do. Not only me, but she loves my friends and invites them into our home daily so that they can see how much she loves them. She's taught me everything I need to know, and she's given me love. I know I'm really lucky to have her, and this story is for her. Hope you like! Short, one shot fic.  
  
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The Gift of Life  
  
By Americanangel  
  
Summary: Various thoughts of the Weasleys (plus Harry) on Mother's Day; takes place two weeks before Ron's graduation from the Auror Academy (in the same timeline as How Many Ways, so Ginny is at St. Mungo's nursing school).  
  
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RON:  
  
I don't know how she does it, or how she has done it for the past almost twenty some years. The seven of us drove her crazy, I truly cannot think of one completely peaceful day when all of us still lived at the Burrow. I remember sometimes, when she was about to lose her temper and completely blow up at us, she would always go into a small room off the side of the kitchen and shut the door. It was her room, and we all knew that when she went in there she wanted quiet. I'm sure that she went in there to cry sometimes, but she must have put a silencing spell on the room because I never heard any sobs coming from it. My mother was, and still is, amazing. She gave us the gift of life.  
  
My mother taught us how to live. She taught us simple things, like how to eat, cross the street, be safe, take care of ourselves, and do our own laundry; but she taught us more complex things too - she taught us how to love, how to swallow our pride and apologize, when to speak and when to keep silent, and how to care for others. She taught us how to laugh, how to cry, how to control our anger, how to forgive, and how to help others. She taught us everything we know, and she gave us the life we have today.  
  
I don't want to think about what my life would have been like without my mother. That's one thing I feel bad about when I think of Harry. He'll never know his mum; he'll never remember calling someone "mummy" and feeling her wrap her arms around him when he suffers a disappointment. He'll never feel the warmth that I felt when Mum told me she loved me and kissed me goodnight. Perhaps that's why Mum took it upon herself to become Harry's mum. Maybe that's why she looks out for him, gives him anything to eat when he comes to the Burrow, and listens when he has something on his mind. She wants to teach him how to live too, seven children weren't enough.  
  
Mum loves all our friends, but not all of them in that way. I remember when we were little Ginny had a friend named Alana whose parents worked a lot and weren't home all the time. Mum sort of adopted her too, the same way she did Harry. Alana came over a lot and Mum always made sure she was fed and loved when she was here. I'm sure she was at home too, but Mum didn't want to take the chance I guess.  
  
I've always wondered why Mum and Dad had so many kids. I asked Mum once and she told me it was because she loved us. That didn't make sense to me, and I guess it won't until I have kids of my own. I guess it just means that she felt she had so much love that she wanted to give it to more people, and she loved Dad so much that she wanted to give him more children to love too.  
  
I love my Mum, more than I'll ever be able to tell her. She didn't just give life to me; she taught me how to live. It's the most precious gift I've ever been given.  
  
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GINNY  
  
Mum. Just hearing that word makes my skin tingle. Being the youngest, people often thought that maybe I was neglected under the weight of the mischief of my six brothers, but that is far from the truth. Mum always made time for me, her only daughter. She always made sure I was alright and made sure that I knew she loved me. She taught me everything I needed to know to live, really live. I think the most important thing she taught me was to love others.  
  
Mum had so much love for all of us. Even when the twins were being crazy and Percy was annoying her and Ron was getting in trouble (and she looked about ready to call it quits) she would just collect herself and then come back and give us a hug and tell us that she loved us. It didn't make sense to me until I went to Hogwarts. I didn't understand how you could love people who annoyed you so much. Now I do. Why? Because the love you have for them is rooted so deep in your soul that no matter what they do you still love them. It's unconditional. Not all parents love their children that way, but Mum does. And not just us, but she loves our friends too. My Mum is always so happy when she can give love to someone. I think she must consider it her duty to bestow love upon at least one person each day, because she does it so often.  
  
So many people live without love and without hope. That's why I decided to become a nurse. I want to give people love at a time when they need it most. This world we live in is so dark, with Voldemort still at large. People need to feel that someone loves them as often as possible, and tell people that they love them. One doesn't know what's going to happen tomorrow and I want the people I treat to know that someone loves them, even if they feel like no one else does. I don't love them unconditionally, but I do love them and I want to show them that.  
  
Mum taught me how to love, and by doing that she taught me how to live. She gave me the gift of life.  
  
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BILL  
  
I don't remember when Charlie was born, but I remember when Percy, the twins, Ron, and Ginny were born. Some people think it's remarkable that I can remember that far back, but I remember sometime someone told me that the reason I could remember was because I had a happy childhood, and I did. I remember each time another child was born I thought that maybe Mum's love for me might decrease, but it never did. She still loved me as much as she loved everyone else. Whenever she found out she was going to have another baby she always pulled me aside and said, "Bill, you know that I love you and I won't ever stop loving you, no matter how many brothers and sisters you have." And I always nodded and she smiled and gave me a hug and a kiss. Mum always made sure I knew that her love for me would never run out, that it was unconditional. No matter what I did she would still love me.  
  
I didn't use to understand why she and Dad had so many of us, but when I held Kevin in my arms for the first time I knew why. He had been crying and his eyes had been shut while he was being cleaned by the nurses so that no one had yet seen what color they were, but when the nurse placed him in my arms and I started talking to him he stopped crying, opened his eyes, and stared at me. I then saw that they were blue, the purest blue I had ever seen. Kristy has the same eyes. I looked at him curiously and I'm sure a grin broke out on my face and that I looked like the stupidest idiot, but I had just realized that something I did was perfect. Kevin and Kristy were perfect. I'm so grateful to Fleur for carrying them for those nine months and watching everything she did to make them perfect, to make me a Daddy. I can't wait until they can talk; I want to hear them call me Daddy more than anything.  
  
Fleur looks so beautiful today, her first Mother's Day. We had a picnic with Kevin and Kristy in our living room, as it's much too sandy outside to have a proper one. Fleur is an amazing woman, one for marrying me and moving away from her beautiful home to Egypt, and two for caring for these children. My mother and she are the two people who have had the most influence in making me who I am today. My mum gave me life and taught me how to live effectively, but Fleur taught me how to enjoy the spice of life. Their love is a gift, a matchless gift.  
  
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HARRY  
  
I don't remember my Mum, not very much anyway. I remember the moments of her death, and I remember a song she used to sing to me to make me go to sleep as a baby. I don't remember the words, just her voice. Just how sweet and loving it sounded and how she would kiss me on the forehead just before I fell asleep. I think she kissed me right where my scar is, that's why the scar is there - because it is where she gave me her love.  
  
I think every day about how much she must have loved me to sacrifice herself that way, and I don't understand why she did it. Based on my memories, it doesn't seem like Voldemort wanted to kill her. I know it was because she loved me, but why? I was only a baby; I had only just learned to talk. Whatever the reason, I don't know if I'll ever be able to thank her for it. She saved my life twice, really. She, or at least her echo, saved it again when my wand was bonded to Voldemort's in that cemetery just after Cedric had died. My mum, my real mum. No matter what happens, no one will be able to replace my real mum.  
  
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MRS. WEASLEY  
  
I remember when each of them were born, all seven. Bill was born on a clear sunny day, but the weather got progressively worse as all the rest of them were born. The day Ginny was born it was pouring down rain, buckets and buckets of rain and lightning, reflective of Voldemort's rising power I guess. Each day was a happy day, though, and each day my love grew. I remember thinking after each of them was born that the one thing I wanted to teach them was love. I wanted to teach them how to love others, even your enemies.  
  
People ask me all the time why I had so many children and all I can say is that I wanted to love more people. They don't understand that, and I pity them for it. I pity them that they don't love others in their daily life because it is so rewarding. I look at my children today and love what I see. I'm so proud of Bill that he got married and gave me my first grandchildren, Kevin and Kristy. I'm so proud of Charlie that he can tame those dragons, and for all the work he is doing against Voldemort. I'm so proud of Percy for helping the Ministry delegate relations with other wizarding Ministries as our allies against Voldemort. I'm so proud of Fred and George for fighting in this war, but still developing their tricks and selling them in their spare time. We all need some laughs. I'm so proud of Ron for becoming an Auror, and of Ginny for becoming a nurse. All of them have learned to serve others, and love them. That's how I know I've done my job; all of them want to love others.  
  
I am a mother. It's not always easy and I'm not perfect, I've made plenty of mistakes, but somehow all seven of them turned out just right, just how I wanted them. Somehow everything I did worked together and made seven wonderful people. Somehow I did something right, and I wouldn't take it back for the world.  
  
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Review!  
  
Go give your mom a hug. ; - )  
  
~Americanangel 


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